Lot Essay
The naskhi inscription reads: al-'izz w'al-iqbal (...) li-mawlana al-kabir (...) al-majd al-'adil (?) al-'amili (Glory and prosperity (...) to our lord his great excellency, the righteous, the learned).
This is one of a small number of silver inlaid brass bowls of this shape, all of which were made in the 14th century, probably in Syria, the majority of which are larger in size than this example. One in the Nuhad es-Said Collection can be dated to 1354-61 AD (Allan, J.W.: Islamic Metalwork, the Nuhad es-Said Collection London, 1982, no.22, pp.102-3), a date which corresponds to that of a similar bowl in Boston dedicated to an officer under al-Nasir Hasan (1347-51 and 1354-61) (Coomaraswamy, A.: 'Two examples of Muhammadan Metalwork', Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Vol.XXIX, August 1931, pp.70-71). Other examples of this small group are in the Museo Civico, Turin, the Museum fr Islamische Kunst, Berlin (both in Baer, E.: Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art, New York, 1983, pp.114-5) and a small example inlaid in silver and gold offered in these Rooms 26 April 1994, lot 312.
This is one of a small number of silver inlaid brass bowls of this shape, all of which were made in the 14th century, probably in Syria, the majority of which are larger in size than this example. One in the Nuhad es-Said Collection can be dated to 1354-61 AD (Allan, J.W.: Islamic Metalwork, the Nuhad es-Said Collection London, 1982, no.22, pp.102-3), a date which corresponds to that of a similar bowl in Boston dedicated to an officer under al-Nasir Hasan (1347-51 and 1354-61) (Coomaraswamy, A.: 'Two examples of Muhammadan Metalwork', Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Vol.XXIX, August 1931, pp.70-71). Other examples of this small group are in the Museo Civico, Turin, the Museum fr Islamische Kunst, Berlin (both in Baer, E.: Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art, New York, 1983, pp.114-5) and a small example inlaid in silver and gold offered in these Rooms 26 April 1994, lot 312.